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LIMA: Seventeen people were killed in Peru on Monday night—the most violent day of protests since last month over the ousting of former president Pedro Castillo.
The government clamped an eight-hour night curfew in the country’s battle-scarred south-eastern region of Puno.
The clashes came as Prime Minister Alberto Otarola was set to appear in the opposition-dominated Congress, seeking a vote of confidence in his cabinet _ a constitutional requirement to lead a new government.
Otarola regretted the deaths and said the unrest was caused by organised attackers financed by “dark” money, in a day in which at least 68 civilians and 75 police officers were injured.
Social protests have left a total of 39 dead so far in different parts of the country.
Authorities called on prosecutors to launch investigations against those responsible.
Peru’s interior ministry said that a police vehicle was attacked early on Tuesday by “unknown persons” in the city of Juliaca, which is located in Puno, with one of the officers suffering multiple head injuries.